The present invention is directed to a feeding apparatus having a transport mechanism for use in a conveyor line wherein articles of manufacture are "picked up" at a first conveyor and relocated to a second conveyor. The invention, particularly, is directed to the manner of transmission of a drive to a driven member and to structure for engaging and disengaging the driven member thereby to terminate the transport operation when a quantity of articles on the first conveyor is insufficient for continuous operation.
In an overall process both of fabricating and handling an article of manufacture, it oftentimes is necessary to relocate the article from one conveyor onto a second conveyor at a spacing which is different from the spacing of the articles on the first conveyor. Thus, the transport mechanism which transports and in transport relocates the articles for receipt on the second conveyor necessarily should operate in a timed sequence particularly if the articles are to be received in individual fixtures carried by the second conveyor. Also, it oftentimes is required or preferable that the articles be relocated from the first to the second conveyor continuously such that each fixture on the second conveyor receives an article; and, if articles cannot be relocated continuously, such as, for example, when an insufficient number of articles are located on the first conveyor, there should be a shut-down of the transport mechanism.
It has been suggested that the transport mechanism be independently driven and that the drive means be activated and deactivated upon command of a detector or the equivalent which senses an insufficient number of articles on the first conveyor as will be required for the operation to continue without interruption. However, this type of operation has the disadvantage that the drive to the transport mechanism is required to be timed with the drive to the second conveyor and unless the transport mechanism and the second conveyor are driven by a common drive means, it is difficult to maintain any degree of synchronization between the two moving structures. Further, it is considered to be preferable that drive to the second conveyor be continuous thereby to obviate the necessity to include sophisticated braking mechanisms and overcome possible conditions of lost motion between the drive and the driven components of the second conveyor.